Stevenage Borough 1(4)-1(3) Watford Fc - League Cup First Round

Who are these people saying that?

Results in pre-season and cup games do mean nothing.

Any benefits from them are different to those of taking a league game seriously.

 

Bit of both. You can't excuse the missed oppurtunity, but the keeper did incredibly well to get across in time to get his body in the way.

 

Bayo is a terrible footballer, although he does have a knack of being in the right place to score tap-in goals, which is an asset. Having seen him play tonight, I can say we desperately need to sign a decent hold-up centre-forward (probably two). Watford had real trouble advancing the ball from their own penalty area because, unlike QPR, Stevenage closed down the short-passing options. Because Bayo was at centre-forward there was no option for a longer aerial ball and even playing a low pass into his feet was no good. He either mis-controlled the hold-up of the ball or attempted a first-time lay-off which didn’t find a teammate.

 

Apologies. Lack of research on my part. That does make a difference, to be fair. Still should be beating them.

 

Hard to say having only seen it once, from more or less side-on. Keeper's reactions were either fantastic or it was right at him. From where I was, it felt like it was in, until it wasn't.

 

It was a joke.

 

Not really. Did quite well to get some power on a header from 7yds from a low pace cross that their keeper just managed to keep out in the bottom corner. Laid the ball off a couple of times. And that was about it.

 

I was being a bit flippant. To be fair, we did improve in the last 10 minutes and then the nine additional minutes and looked the most likely side to win it. Watching our midfield in the first half I felt like the fella in Edvard Munch's painting The Scream – I was just staring aghast at the huge areas or nothingness. Louza is a very tidy and skilful player who could be the key in a lot of games but he needs muscle and someone with positional discipline near him. Maybe Livermore will be that player. My bias against Livermore is largely based on him being hopeless for Tottenham years ago, followed by being the sort of player relegated sides sign.

 

Nah. Not sure I buy this. If you play 10/11 of the side that started the opening league game in a cup tie and then they play like that and go out on penalties, it means something. The lack of coherence and urgency will surely be a concern. Unless, of course, the instruction was to just go out and play a half-arsed match of muddle and mistakes against a hardworking but limited lower division side. In which case, job very much done.

 

Seeing a lot of over-reaction online, having watched the performance, we were great for 20, lost control for 45 then subs were made and it was all us from there.

It’s positive that Val made changes to shape and personnel that positively impacted the game. If Bayo finishes off a fantastic move from 5 yards out, we leave without much to complain about, alas it wasn’t to be.

Stevenage were ugly and direct, totally nullified Louza & TDB which is a concern, we need to work out a plan for when teams swarm our midfield as we completely lost that battle today.

Hamer is truly awful, Lewis will be a massive upgrade on Morris who really does try and doesn’t make glaring errors but his game is limited.

Sema very ineffective again, probably need a solution at right wing. Martins industrious but not fruitful, not a major concern but you’d think Ince will be a regular starter when fit.

Ngakia of course injured again but Andrews really does look the part, he could have a very solid and respectable future at this level.

Bit of a concern that Asprilla has seen 0 minutes in the first two games, has he pissed off the manager? Would be a shame, he was one of my potential highlights for what I expect to be a pretty average season.

Overall, maybe my standards are low but we tried, we didn’t hide and we created a few chances. Unlike last year, we lost but we lost with some pride I feel, that’s all I really want as a bare minimum.

 

As I keep saying, any team with Sema included is going to fail. It's a complete joke the bloke keeps getting games.

 

That’s harsh, his assist record at this level is pretty good but having Sema on the right is negating his best attribute massively. His attacking play hasn’t been great but he does contribute well defensively and helps his full back.

I just think neither him or Martins are particularly skilful, quick or explosive and that’s a hindrance. You need a maverick/magician on one of the two sides IMO, for unpredictability and excitement alone. I doubt our wingers scare many fullbacks.

 

Shall we do a fact-check on that opinion?

For the record, courtesy of the database site, the stats since Ken Sema joined the club are..

Watford's win percentage when Ken makes an appearance: 45%.
Watford's win percentage when Ken doesn't play: 22%.

So you keep saying something that's wrong.

 

I am a late convert to Ken, if only for his attitude, work-rate and professionalism, but surely this quite base statting is failing to take important context into account - chiefly, that the vast majority of minutes and games he has played 'since he joined the club' have taken place in the Championship, whereas that time also includes three whole seasons of Premier League play the club indulged in but Ken himself only did either sparingly or not at all, skewing that particular comparison quite strongly in his favour.

 

I think last night showed that QPR are very poor , we are very average ,badly need a midfield enforcer ,a striker that scores 5yarders ,at least VI subs he trys to impact the game!
I still dont believe were strong enough to do any better than mid table as things stand .

 

You keep saying it.

 

Our wingers are designed to cut in on their better foot rather than go down the line. That really doesn’t suit Sema in particular who as you say looks lost on the right.

 

How can anyone 'dis' King Ken Sema? The bloke is easily our best outfield player and has been for a number of years. Apparently he's a good egg too, so lay off the King.

 

One thing that I think is a problem and is getting a bit over-looked in discussions about where we currently are is our away form. Our last win on the road I believe was way back in January, at Norwich. So clearly that’s something that needs addressing.

As to last night, obviously disappointing to only draw against inferior opposition and then to not win the resulting shoot out, but I believe we are as it says on the tin, namely a club in transition getting used to new ways of working and playing. Plus we are currently an incomplete squad and we can all be fairly sure it’s going to be strengthened this month. I’m sure the coaches will have learned a lot from last night, both the positives and negatives. We know we are looking to strengthen our strike-force and we know we should soon see Lewis and Ince hopefully improve is in their positions.

Let’s make that home advantage count on Saturday in what will be a very tricky assignment.

 

We are quite lacking in pace aren't we? Our only real pace merchants in the squad are Kalu (don't laugh) and Andrews (how quick is Lewis?)

 

Big question is what happens when Val goes to Gino and says he needs players for certain areas? Will he suddenly be revealed as "the wrong fit"?

 

e.g. pre-match prediction:

 

Hoist with his own petard in more ways than one.

 

Just read that apparently a full strength Millwall lost 0-4 to Reading's kids yesterday. Makes our result look less embarrassing.

 

Millwall made 5 changes from the team that started their win on Saturday.

 

I reckon he should be tried up front, I think he could make a decent impression as a main striker.

 

It's definitely a mindset thing when it comes to these league cup games. We have seen it for many years across multiple squads and managers. We either play a league 2 side at the vic in front of 8,000 or at a pokey little non league standard stadium, the players must look around and think "what's the point, this clearly doesn't mean much" whilst the opposition are probably playing the biggest game of their season and want to get in our face.

Honestly I wouldn't bat an eyelid if the FA scrapped the league cup altogether. It's nothing more than a run around and the top Premier league sides always win it because their squad depth is world class.

 

Lots I agree with here, though I'd actually credit Stevenage with playing through our lines quite a bit. In fact as the game opened up they were arguably better than us at moving the ball from front to back through the middle. And while they were certainly aggressive and physical at times, it was nothing our players won't face in the Championship when they're not playing a team of ghosts like QPR.

My overall take is that Val's set up a system and style which has quite a lot of promise but I don't think he's got the team to pull it off. You've pretty much nailed the problem positions:

We need a proper sweeper keeper who is completely confident at quick and varied distribution. Neither Bachmann or Hamer fit the bill.

Lewis should be an upgrade on Morris (who I think found his level last night and looked better as the game went on), which in turn will help Martins, and I wonder if Ince could play on the right in place of Sema? I'm fond of Ken but he's lost out there. And presumably his teammates know it too, as a disproportionate amount of our play in the first two games has been aimed down our left.

TDB looked like a passenger until he was taken off. Worrying performance after I thought he faded quite badly in the QPR game. Not sure if it's fitness or something else. We could do with another centre mid to complement Louza.

And despite 2 goals in 2 games, I think we lose more from having Bayo in the side than we gain. His hold up play is sketchy - almost nothing stuck in the first half, which meant we often ended up with the ball rolling around between Hamer, Hoedt and Porteous every time Stevenage cleared. Bit worrying that Val speaks so highly of him, though I hope that's because he's working with a limited budget and knows it makes more sense to big the bloke up than throw him under the bus when centre forward is probably the most expensive position to recruit for.

 

Agreed. I think QPR would struggle to stay up in League 1. The next 6 games will indicate where we are in terms of competitiveness. I think we will end up around 15th by the end of the season.

 

Starting to come to the same conclusion. Get rid of the FA Cup too. The finals in both competitions are nearly always contested by the same half-dozen clubs who don't even pick their best players until the quarter-finals. Pep and Klopp don't want to play in them anyway. Let's retire them and just have league football. Broadcasters and pundits would prefer it. Managers and players would prefer it.

 

Hamer’s distribution is awful.

Bayo is a nuisance to play against and scores goals – he is like having Messi compared that the dope we had up top last season.

Kone is abysmal.

We lack pace in the side.